The Chronicles of Riddikulus (sports edition)

The Strange, Bizarre, and Inconceivable

(photos c/o owners)

Seems like hilarity occurs in EVERY sport...

soccer

basketball

rugby (?)

volleyball

baseball

mixed martial arts

...and lest we forget: bullfighting.

OLE!

The Air Up There

Impromptu trips always give me a sense of "Joie de Vivre." Last Saturday, it was to the Philippine summer capital- Baguio (pronounced as: Bay-gee-yo within ze gang). Trip-takers: 3. Namely: Epok the reluctant chauffeur, Lanie the "I'm-better-than-a-personal GPS" navigator, and yours truly the innocent (read: idiot) passenger. Yey, let the "vivre-ing" begin.

First Stop: Breakfast. Hill Station Tapas Bar and Restaurant (Casa Vallejo, Upper Session Road, Baguio) http://hillstationbaguio.com

Got the longganisa set breakfast, seems like it's their specialty. Question: How is longganisa different and better in Baguio? Answer (c/o Epok): Ganito din ang lasa ng longganisa sa Binalonan! (Apparently, it's not). Nevertheless, I thought it was sumptuous. Ambiance: John Mayer-y (He's ALL they play).

Second Stop: Shopping. SM Baguio (Luneta Hill Drive, Baguio City)

Immediately, I make a beeline towards the home furnishing department (my room re-do will be tackled in a separate, maybe longer, maybe shorter post). Buys: 1 Anti-slip bath mat, 1 pair of pale yellow pillowcases. Look on my face when I get the credit card bill: NOT priceless (in fact: affordable). After that, a number of forgettable beauty shops, clothing stores, tech sellers. Malls get old quick. Finally, we give up.

Ooh, funky glasses!

Third Stop: Sight Seeing (Session Road, Baguio City)

"heaven on earth"

We had a couple of goals in mind- find the new Starbucks, and get our (okay, MY) grubby hands on some Vizco's  strawberry shortcake. Goals obtained and then some! Check out those K-fashionistas! Better yet, those K-fashionvictims! Hilar. We head back giggling. Les Bon Temps.

Fourth Stop: Convergys/Technohub (Camp John Hay, Baguio City)

First reaction- WHOA! (In Epok tone: Bago to?!)

Second Reaction- WHAT! lalakarin natin YOOOON?! (probably a 300 meter walk) *grumble, grumble*

Third Reaction- Gutom na ako, ULIT. *rumble, rumble*

Tried the steak burrito at Army Navy Burger Burrito, dared epok to try the triple patty Bully Boy Burger but he was chicken (cue canned laughter). Overall Impact: meh.

should have been named "Epok Burger"

Fifth Stop: The Commissary/The Manor Hotel (Camp John Hay, Baguio City)

"sighT of relief"

As in most trips, my tummy starts acting up. Slight panic. To tell, or not to tell? Finally, Lanie suggests a quick detour to The Manor Hotel. Inside, I see signs regarding "proper attire." I wonder if these apply in the restrooms as well? I look down at my Tory Burch Revas- sigh of relief. Finally, feeling "pooped," we decided to head back home. 

Look on my dad's face after not seeing me all day: PRICELESS. 

Dog-gone tired.

Zzzz....

Let's Take A Solemn Minute

...to remember and pray for the victims of the 2011 Japan Earthquake. It has been 1 year ago today.

*Photo courtesy of http://www.buzzfeed.com

The Angkor (Non-)Adventurer

ADMITTEDLY, I wasn't really looking forward to this trip. And as usual, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. All I knew was... actually-NOTHING. When people asked (read: my friend Lanie who's been before), all that came to mind were single words and short phrases:

L: When are you guys leaving?

Me: Sometime in February?

L: Did you get a good deal for the plane fares?

Me: Uuuh... *looks at Epok*

L: How are you getting to Siem Reap?

Me: Siem Wha? (I thought we were going to Angkor Wat?)

L: How many days are you staying?

Me: Mmm... *shrug* (Thought bubble: NOT FEW ENOUGH!)

I didn't count the days, but THE DAY came anyway. *Sigh*

Day One: Travelled to Urdaneta, then to Tarlac, then to Clark, then to Bangkok, then to the Cambodian Border. So far the trip was meeting my expectations. NOT GOOD. At least my braids were holding up.

Day Two AM (Cambodian Border): Cabbie late! Typical? Epok fuming. Typical. Jang nagging. TYPICAL. Finally he shows up (or we get to him). Two hour drive to Siem REAP (Alam ko na, thanks to the immigration officer who gave me a heads up and wrote it on my arrival card).

Day Two Noon: Hotel Viroth's-FINALLY! Things looking up. Lovely Place. Lovely Khmer lunch. Everything "Viroth" seems to exude awesomeness. (note to self: google VIROTH definition) Then rest and a little bit of recreation. Can't help but think Epok was leaning in for "the kill." Slept in bated breath....

Day Three (Angkor Wat): Temple Walking...Posing...Running...Panting...Whining...PLEASE GOD, NOT ANOTHER ONE! Sabi ko na nga ba! Eventually, at the end of the afternoon, I finally got to ride an (abused?) elephant to the top of the hill where I climbed a million steps to the sunset watching deck. GOOD TIMES.

"Good Morning Cambodia!"

"Octopus Prime"

Co-tourists

Pre-brouhaha photo

Still with a skip in my step

Temple Running (photo c/o Jeffrey Co)

Ouch! (photo c/o Jeffrey Co)

*Scowl* (photo c/o Jeffrey Co)

Are we done yet??? (photo c/o Jeffrey Co)

Poor Ellie...

Sunset...

...At last! (photo c/o Jeffrey Co)

Day Four (More Temples): Started the day not feeling my feet. Fortunately, got a tummy ache sometime near the final few temples. Hooray! Great excuse to cut the day short. Napped through the museum visit. This is the life. Final Khmer dinner (sad face), Night Market finds (happy face).

Here we go again... (photo c/o Jeffrey Co)

Caffeine (photo c/o Jeffrey Co)

"De-caffed"

Shadows in the sun (photo c/o Jeffrey Co)

Belly treat!

Day Five (Hello Bangkok): Sawadeeka! Hello Cha Tu Chak, wonderful to meet you. Sad I had to leave you so soon.

Day Six: #itsmorefuninbinalonan

OVER ALL TRIP SUMMARY:

Travel Cost: 4/5 stars (So far, I have managed to pay for MOST of it)

Accommodation: 5/5 stars (My absolute favorite part of the trip, obvs)

Food: 5/5 stars (one word: DIVINE!)

In Travel Expenses: 3/5 stars (One US dollar for each canned soda or bottled H2O seems exorbitant)

Company: 1/5 stars (Because Epok is the ONLY person I enjoyed the trip with, neuroses and all!)

Hype: 4/5 stars (the temples WERE worth the pain, if only there weren't so many of them)

*Eventually I will have to come up with a more logical system of rating these trips. Albeit they are few and far between.

**Other outstanding photos c/o Nat and Jang

Nat- Cousin, fruit fiend

Jang- Cousin, premenopausal (?)

Epok- Erstwhile photographer and neurotic cousin extraordinaire

The "E" in action

OFF TO THE NEXT!

WTF? (What The Feuilleton)

pronounced as: FEW-TON.

...I know, my bed is calling me.

First things first:

Feuilleton (a diminutive of French: feuillet, the leaf of a book) was originally a kind of supplement attached to the political portion of French newspapers, consisting chiefly of non-political news and gossip, literature and art criticism, a chronicle of the latest fashions, and epigrams, charades and other literary trifles. The feuilleton may be described as a "talk of the town."

Thematic domain of a Feuilleton column tends to be always up-to-date, focusing specifically on cultural, social and moral issues. An accented and active role by the columnist as the subject of the narration is also very important characteristic of this genre. The tone of its writing is usually reflexive, humorous, ironic and above all very subjective in drawing conclusions, assessments and comments on a particular subject.

Unlike other common journalistic genres, the feuilleton such is very close to literary. Its characteristic feature is lightness and wit evidenced by wordplay, parody, paradox and humorous hyperboles. The vocabulary is usually not neutral, and strongly emotionally loaded words and phrases prevail.

THANKS TO WIKI, I HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH OF THAT IS TRUE.